Softball sweeps Houston Baptist in afternoon doubleheader

Mar 09, 2011

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Texas A&M -
Corpus Christi softball team had to rally early and played with a
lead in a pair of games against the Houston Baptist Huskies at
Chapman Field. The home
team won game one 4-2 while shutting out the Huskies 4-0 in the
second half of the twin bill.

The Islanders improved to 18-5 with the wins
while HBU falls to 9-8 on the season. Jordan
Trujillo picked up the complete game victory to move to 9-2 on
the year while Vianca
Pesina started the second game, pitching five innings to move
to 6-1 on the season.

"I think the hardest part of the year is to be
focused when you aren't playing conference games when you have
already started conference play," said head coach Jake
Schumann. "To come out and put a decent day together is just a
bonus.

"That's what you take with you from the
day."

In game one of the day, Trujillo made an early
mistake, giving up a two-run home run in the top of the first
inning to give HBU a 2-0 advantage. It would be the only runs she allowed
as she gave up two runs on six hits with two walks and four
strikeouts in seven innings.

The score remained the same until the bottom
of the third inning, with Texas A&M - Corpus Christi plating
one run on a Hannah
Schwarz single that scored pinch runner Sandy
Schumann from third.
The Islanders had the bases loaded but were only able to push one
across to cut the lead in half.

It was not until the bottom of the fifth
inning that they were able to take the lead, scoring three runs on
five hits and one error to take a 4-2 advantage. Schwarz started it off by singling on
the infield and was followed by a Cassie
Redman single through the left side as Schwarz moved to
second. Caley
Jeter then singled to left field over the glove of the
shortstop, causing Schwarz to hesitate as she advanced to third but
was thrown out at home by the left fielder. Kacie
Smith then singled to load the bases again ahead of a Lauren
Dodson single to left that brought home Redman and Jeter as
well as allowed Smith to score when the left fielder committed an
error on the throw home to make it a 4-2 lead. Trujillo allowed
just one hit over the final two innings to close out the game.

Schwarz was the leading batter, going 2-for-4
in the game with one RBI while Dodson was 1-for-3 with two
RBI. Stephanie
Vead was the only other Islanders player with two hits as
Redman, Jeter, Smith, Dodson, Laura
Phillips and Jamise
Jackson each had one.

In game two, Pesina dominated from the start,
allowing just two hits in five innings of work while walking one
and striking out four. Greta
Cecchetti came on in relief and pitched two innings, giving up
no runs while walking two and striking out two.

"We expect the pitchers to come in and do
their job when they get in there," said Schumann. "Vianca was
rolling but we wanted to get Greta a couple of innings, she had not
pitched in a week so we wanted to get her some action to see how
she does.

"We have to get Constance (Brandenburg) into
the game at some point this weekend. When they come in we expect them to
do their job and they all did a good job today."

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi did most of the
damage in the third inning, scoring three runs on four hits to take
a 3-0 lead. Schwarz started the action by hitting a bunt single and
advancing to second on a stolen base. Redman followed with a single to the
pitcher and advanced to second as the pitcher was not paying
attention and did not make a throw over to second. Jeter followed
with a single to bring home both runners. After Smith was called out on a
batter's interference, Dodson knocked a double to the left center
field wall that allowed Jeter to score all the way from first.

The only other run of the game came in the
fifth, when Schwarz led off with a triple and came home to score on
a Smith single up the middle to make it a 4-0 lead.

Schwarz was a perfect 3-for-3 in game two
while Redman, Jeter, Smith, Dodson and Meagan
McKinney each had one hit. Jeter notched two RBI with Smith and
Dodson having one apiece.

Next up for the Islanders is a weekend series
against Southland Conference opponent Central Arkansas on the
road.